Computers Are Not Chew Toys
by dnofsunshine
Summary: Koushiro comes home to an unpleasant surprise in his bedroom. But not even he can resist a puppy who just wants to play. Happy Odaiba Day! One-shot.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon. I will also give credit to my sister, **eatenalivebyboredom** , who has recently announced that she is no longer writing fanfics on this site, for this idea.

I had the majority of this written out yesterday, but I wanted to wait until today to post it so I could have something up for the first. After all, who doesn't want a healthy dose of Koushiro on a day like this? Happy Odaiba Day!

* * *

Koushiro's eye twitched. "What is _that?_ "

Brown eyes stared up at him expectantly, soundlessly. They blinked innocently, and furry black ears perked up as the question left Koushiro's lips.

Leaning against the door frame, his mother said, "I was shopping for groceries, and a kind woman was giving away free puppies outside the store. I couldn't resist. He's cute, don't you think, hun?"

"I was under the impression pets were prohibited," Koushiro deadpanned after a pause, looking at his mother with an unamused expression. "Are you certain you're allowed to have him in here?"

"There was a bit of a fee," his mother admitted. "You're always alone in your room, you know. Your father and I talked before I brought him home, and he agreed that it would be an excellent idea to give you a companion. Now you don't have to work all by yourself."

"I'm not always alone," the computer expert countered. "Tentomon visits regularly. I enjoy his company."

"I know that. But he's not always here." She smiled as the puppy that had been sitting on Koushiro's neatly made bed— _I just washed those sheets,_ thought Koushiro—rose, its tail swishing back and forth against his blanket. "See? He's excited to meet you. Go on, hun."

Slowly, Koushiro walked toward it—him. _Him_. The puppy was male. He met the animal's eyes again after a few hesitant steps, jumping a little as the young dog release a bark of excitement.

Instantly, the puppy—which looked to be about three to three and a half months old, judging by its size—was racing toward him. He pounced onto Koushiro's leg, the tips of his paws reaching past Koushiro's knee. The Keeper of Knowledge stroked his fur carefully, frowning. He'd interacted with dogs before, but he never actually owned one.

He knew immediately that this was not going to end well. The puppy was cute, sure. But he preferred to work in silence. And this new so-called companion of his was. Well. Not so quiet. And not to mention _energetic_.

"Puppies require a lot of time and attention," he told his mother politely, trying to be the voice of reason. "What will we do if no one is here to care for his needs?"

His mother paused. "Your friends like animals, don't they? If something comes up, perhaps one of them could lend a hand. Doesn't Taichi have a dog?"

"Taichi has a cat," he corrected. "Mother, I... I don't think you understand," he added when he realized he was being rather impolite. She probably had good intentions. But still... "He will need to be walked, played with, house trained—"

"He's already house trained," she countered and grinned excitedly. "I did actually think about this, Koushiro. I bought everything on the list that the woman gave me. In fact, I'll go get his collar. Why don't you take him for a walk?"

Before Koushiro could reply, she hurried away, and he was left alone with an excited bundle of fur that pleaded for his attention. When his mother returned with a leash, collar, and harness, he realized he wasn't even sure _how_ to walk a dog properly.

But his mother was excited, so he ended up caving in.

 _This is going to take a while to get used to._

* * *

The next morning, maybe around six-thirty or so, Koushiro awoke to high-pitched barking and a scratching sound. His eyes opened blearily, and he blinked a few times to rid his vision from sleep.

He rubbed his face as he sat up, noting that the barking and scratching was getting louder. Didn't his parents hear him? Koushiro was a morning person, sure. He did not like to spend his day sleeping. But once he awoke in the morning, however early it may be, he found it rather difficult to fall back asleep. He wasn't sure if he liked this new alarm clock whining behind his bedroom door.

"I'm coming," he mumbled through a sigh, as he padded over to his door. Slowly. Sleepily. The door shook with more abuse as the puppy—which he wasn't sure what to name yet—clawed at it, excited as soon as he heard Koushiro's voice.

He knelt down to eye level with the young dog and blinked. Opening the door had shut it up rather quickly. The puppy blinked back at him, and he asked, "What do you want?"

Immediately, it yipped and started panting. Koushiro sputtered when it pounced on him and began to lick his face, something he had _not_ been expecting. "Nnn... hey! Hey, ok, I get it, you want something. What is it? Are you hungry?"

In response, the puppy just panted, staring at Koushiro with eyes that he couldn't _not_ find cute. It came to his attention that he was speaking with a _dog_ and that there was no way it could comprehend what he was asking.

For some reason, he ignored that thought, standing once again to check on the food and water dishes that his mother had placed in their kitchen by the sliding door, confused when he saw both were decently filled.

"Do you need to go out?" he asked it. Wait. Him. The puppy's response was the same as earlier, and Koushiro let out a breath of frustration. It couldn't hurt to check.

Switching the second kitchen light on, he fought to remember where his mother had put the puppy's leash harness. He spent the next five minutes trying to find it, before realizing that it was hanging up near the door, which he thought was a logical place to put it. Something about being half-asleep slowed down his thought process, made it hard to focus.

The moment the puppy saw the leash, he started bouncing around. Koushiro jumped as he started barking again, not sure how to quiet him down. "Hey... hey, shh..." he murmured, trying to capture the energetic animal, but failing miserably. "You're going to wake them up for sure."

Finally, he found a way to hold the puppy still. But once he did that, he realized he was completely unsure of how to put this thing on. How had his mother done it? Just slip his legs through, right? And then hook it?

Koushiro attempted to do so from memory, which proved to be difficult. "Ok, here we go... give me your paw, ok, and... oh, no."

The puppy nipped at him and whined, trying to free his leg from the tangled mess Koushiro was creating. The computer expert would be lying if he said he didn't panic just a little. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "Stop moving, I just... ouch, hey! I'm trying, ok? I'm trying. Work with me, damn it."

He took it off and tried again. And again. And... damn it. Why was this so difficult? He considered himself very intelligent, thank you very much. He was the Keeper of _Knowledge_ , and yet here he was, being outsmarted by a damn harness.

"You know what? I'll just hook it to your collar," he decided, because it seemed to be the simplest solution. Who needed that thing anyway? It was a waste of time. He returned to the kitchen, retrieving a plastic bag. It was one of the few things he actually did remember when he and his mother had taken the puppy for a walk—it was smart to be clean around the complex, especially since it was so big.

He'd learned yesterday that his mother and father—his _biological_ mother and father, as much as he didn't want to think about them—had a dog when he was very young, presumably around the time when he was a newborn. His mother told him that they adopted the dog when they adopted him, and although Koushiro didn't actually remember having a dog at any point in life, the dog had lived up until Koushiro was about three and a half before she fell ill and passed away.

So his mother really did know a lot about training a dog and how to puppy-proof the apartment, apparently. It was a relief, really. He never pegged his mother as a woman to act on impulse, to do things without much thought. They were supposed to work on puppy-proofing everything today while his father went to work later.

The wind was crisp as he stepped outside with his new companion, who had quieted down a tiny bit when they walked out the door. He watched it carefully, allowed him to sniff his way around.

"Not the flowerbeds," he chided and decided to head away from them.

The morning was nice, he decided, with its subtle, cool breeze, and the colors that mixed beautifully in the sky as the sun rose from its slumber. And although he didn't particularly enjoy picking up after the puppy, he thought this wasn't so bad.

* * *

His mother awoke about two hours later, already preparing breakfast and helping his father prepare for work. Her laughter was musical as she watched Koushiro's father scarf down his food while attempting to thread his arms through the sleeves of his jacket.

Apparently, they had overslept and he was running late. Koushiro, who had been preoccupied with the puppy all morning, had barely noticed and was slightly amused, seeing as his father was usually rather punctual when it came to his work.

His mother called him over to help with the dishes. Without thinking much of it, he left the puppy alone in his room. He helped dry dish after dish and returned them to their respective place. Then he padded back to his bedroom. Ten minutes alone couldn't have hurt anything.

Oh, but it did. The moment Koushiro returned, he felt his heart drop in his stomach.

His precious laptop was on the floor, and there was his new companion, trying to take a bite out of it.

"No," he shouted with more force than necessary, causing the bundle of fur to jump and look up at him with confused, cute eyes, as if to say, _But look what I did! Isn't it great?_

"Oh, no. No, no, _no_. That's _not_ going to work on me right now." He picked up his laptop off the floor, relieved to see that all of its keys were in the right place, but heartbroken to find teeth marks on the corner of the case surrounding the screen. "Look what you did," he cried, pointing. "Why are you wagging your tail? You are not allowed to be happy right now. You're in trouble. Out!"

Instantly, the puppy whined. Koushiro ushered him out before he could be convinced to do otherwise, closing the door.

He looked his computer over again. It seemed to be fine, minus the teeth marks. Of course, he needed to sanitize it. Maybe twice, just to make sure. Why had he left it within the puppy's reach? How stupid could he be?

"Koushiro, are you ok, dear? What happened?" his mother's voice said from behind the door. "Why did you send him out?"

"I can't let him back in! Not right now! He is in trouble!"

Koushiro started opening drawers in search of his computer wipes. He'd have to clean the keyboard, too. Probably more than twice. "Damn you, dog. And to think I was even starting to like you..."

"Did he chew on something?" his mother asked softly.

He sighed, trying not to sound too angry. "Not right now, Mom. I'm taking care of it."

He heard her chide at the puppy gently, heard the puppy whine again in response. Heard her pick him up, ears tracking her footsteps as she walked away to allow Koushiro to calm down somewhat.

Maybe he was overreacting. Chewing on things is what puppies do. Maybe he was still teething? How old do puppies have to get before they stopped teething? Koushiro blew out another impatient breath, setting his laptop carefully on his bed as he tried not to think the marks etched in the corner of the case.

"Computers are _not_ chew toys," he murmured irritably with a frown.

* * *

With all of his appliances and cords tucked safely away, Koushiro had deemed it safe for the puppy's return. It was a few days later that he told Taichi about his new pet, who didn't seem to understand over the phone. So here he was, sitting on Koushiro's bed, with Agumon and Tentomon. They all stared at Koushiro with disbelieving eyes.

"I can't believe it."

"I don't think I can, either."

"Neither can I."

"You actually got a puppy," Taichi said flatly in shock, at the same time that Tentomon dramatically cried out, "Koushiro-han has _replaced_ me!"

"I did not replace you," Koushiro assured. "The dog was here when I arrived home the other day. My mother is convinced his company is more beneficial than no company."

"Does he have a name?" Taichi asked.

Koushiro shrugged. "Not yet. Mom said the name was mine to decide."

"So you've had this puppy for four days, and it doesn't have a name?"

"I haven't gotten around to it," he said in defense.

Tentomon poked Koushiro's puppy experimentally, who was sleeping at the foot of Koushiro's bed. He let out a shriek of horror when the animal lifted his head, staring at him curiously. "It moves!"

Koushiro rolled his eyes. "Of course he moves. He's a living, breathing animal, Tentomon. And stop poking at him—he's going to bite if you keep it up."

"I am Tentomon," the digimon told the young dog, poking at his nose. "I am Koushiro-han's partner." He paused as his new companion wagged his tail excitedly. "You will not be Tentomon's replaceme—ouch! _Koushiro-han!_ He bit me!"

"Koushiro told you he would," Agumon commented.

"No matter," the digimon said indignantly. "I know plenty of digimon who can bite harder than that."

"I bet if you digivolve, he will be scared," Agumon added.

Tentomon gasped at the idea. "Yes! Koushiro-han, can I—"

"You aren't going to scare him away," Koushiro deadpanned. "Plus, I already took him out today. He urinates when he's frightened. I don't believe you would want to clean up _that_ mess."

Taichi chuckled, reaching forward to pet the puppy on the head. "I think he's cute. Are you sure you can't think of a name?"

"It's not that I can't," Koushiro said. "I just haven't thought of one yet."

"He seems pretty playful," Taichi continued. "Has he caused you any trouble yet?"

"Actually, yes. You wouldn't believe how much trouble he can get himself out of, though. My mother is convinced he is an angel."

"Hikari is the same way about Miko," the older teen said. "He gets on counters, knocks stuff over, gets fur everywhere—one time I had just finished cleaning out the litter box, and he goes and takes a shit _right next to it._ Like, damn it, cat. And Hikari's always like, 'Oh, he's so adorable. How could you be mad at this face?' I swear, she's even got _Takeru_ convinced that he's the best cat in the world..."

Koushiro laughed. "Animals are quite mischievous."

"Oh! I got it!"

"What?"

"The name. Your crest is knowledge, right? You should name him, like, Wisdom or something."

There was a bit of a pause. "Taichi."

"Yeah?"

"That's a stupid idea."

"It was a suggestion," Taichi cried in defense, frowning. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas."

"My mom said the name Satoru," he admitted. "Something about being a fast learner..."

"Well, there you go. Satoru." Taichi reached down to stroke the puppy's fur again. Satoru looked up at the teen, before barking excitedly, which made Taichi grin. "Aw, see. He loves it."

"He likes the attention you're giving him," Koushiro corrected. Before he could anything else, however, Satoru stood, eyes trained on Koushiro. "Oh, no you don't. Not on the bed. Not on the—"

He leapt up onto Koushiro's lap, licking his face like he had done the morning after they had met. "Satoru—nn, hey! You're getting fur in my mouth—bleh, stop it!"

"I think he wants your attention more than mine," Taichi said, his grin getting bigger. "That's right, boy. Get him. Get him!"

Koushiro wasn't certain of when he started chuckling, or when Tentomon once again started to complain, or when Agumon had to stop his partner from jumping after Satoru. But all of the sudden the room was filled with his and Taichi's laughter and barking and Tentomon's indignant cries, and Koushiro realized he didn't mind the noise all that much.

No, he wasn't Tentomon's replacement. But he was a new addition to the family.


End file.
